For a couple weeks as Minnesota and St. Louis jockeyed down the stretch for playoff position, all the talk was about home-ice advantage. Who would get it? How much of a factor would it be?
Well, Minnesota ended up with home ice by finishing second in the Central Division. That meant the Wild would get a Game 7 at home, if there was a Game 7. It also meant the Wild would play the first two games of the best-of-seven series at home.
Well, it took the Blues only about 2 1/2 hours to negate home ice. They were disciplined, determined and opportunistic on defense, defeating the Wild 4-0. Game 2 is Wednesday at Xcel.
Any concerns about Ville Husso after he allowed a career-high six goals in the regular-season finale Friday against Vegas? Forget about it. The goalie with zero playoff experience entering the night got the better of the goalie with 162 playoff games on his resumé — future Hall of Famer Marc-Andre Fleury. Husso made 37 saves in his shutout.
By the numbers, the Blues had a decided edge in special teams. They set a franchise record for power-play efficiency in the regular season at 27.0% — second-best in the NHL this year. Their penalty killing was superb as well, finishing fifth in the league at 84.1% efficiency.
In comparison, the Wild were average at best on special teams.
Conventional wisdom says referees swallow their whistles in the postseason, so the Blues’ advantage on special teams would perhaps be negligible. There was no whistle-swallowing Monday.
The Blues scored twice on the power play, and their PK unit killed off all six Minnesota power plays.
“It's been a big part of our success all year,” Ryan O’Reilly said before the game. “Obviously in playoffs, calls seem to get a little tighter. I don't think there will be as many special teams plays.”
But on this night there were penalties a plenty. And the Blues dominated in this area.
“They're vital,” O’Reilly said. “They're vital to winning a series. That's something we have a ton of confidence in and in those opportunities, we have to be sharp and be ready for them when they come.”
They were. Especially David Perron.
The Blues were practically on the plane for Denver and Game 1 of their playoff series with the Colorado Avalanche last year when Perron got a tap on the shoulder, figuratively speaking.
He had tested positive for COVID-19. So much for the playoffs — the Blues’ leading scorer was done for the season. At least this season, he was back in the postseason.
“You never know, there’s a couple more days to go,” Perron said Friday. “No, I’m kidding. . . . . I haven't played playoffs in two years, and really with the bubble it's almost like three years. So definitely exciting.”
It showed when Monday night rolled around. He was a man possessed in the opening period against the Wild. Flying to the puck. Stirring things up along the boards. And — of course — scoring goals. He kept it up all night in the Blues’ playoff opener.
In what was originally ruled as a power-play goal and then changed to five-on-five – and then changed back to a power-play goal, Perron lunged forward to get every ounce of his body possible into the rebound of an O’Reilly shot. It got by Fleury, giving the Blues a 1-0 lead at the 6:15 mark of the first period.
Later in the period, Perron got a secondary assist on an O’Reilly goal, keeping possession and keeping the play alive. He passed to Justin Faulk, who passed to O’Reilly net front. O’Reilly then banged in his own rebound to make it 2-0 Blues at the 15:56 mark.
It was an eventful first period. One that included three minor penalties and a penalty shot — that’s right, a penalty shot — in the first 7½ minutes of the game.
The penalty shot came when the Blues were killing a penalty but Ivan Barbashev had a breakaway and was hacked — a couple of times — by Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin. The official call was hooking just 3:50 into the game. Fleury subsequently stopped the penalty shot.
There were plenty of scrums and skirmishes, fitting for a playoff game and two teams that tend toward the heavy side of hockey.
When he wasn’t taking penalty shots, Barbashev was a heat-seeking missile, hitting just about anything in his path. Brayden Schenn, returning to the lineup after missing the last four regular-season games with an upper-body injury, clobbered Matt Dumba — knocking him off his feet with a hit the Wild thought was high.
And Niko Mikkola, inserted into the lineup when Marco Scandella was a no-go due to his lower-body injury, did exactly what Craig Berube was looking for. He pushed, he shoved, he mucked it up and played defense.
Meanwhile, Husso was a rock in goal, making his first NHL playoff stop. On more than one occasion, the Wild played a version of whack-a-mole, pounding away at the puck from close range, but Husso turned everything aside in the opening two periods.
There were more penalties, five all told, in the second period after six penalties and that penalty shot in the first. While the Blues' penalty killing stood strong, the Blues' power play struck again.
Once again, it was Perron, with Jordan Greenway off for cross-checking Torey Krug behind the St. Louis net. Perron, who led the Blues in power play goals during the regular season with 11, scored his second goal of the night with 3:30 left in the second.
Schenn sent a wrist shot at Fleury from the right faceoff circle, the rebound bounced out toward the left circle, and with Brandon Saad serving a screen, Perron swooped in for the score.
Perron then made it a hat trick with an even-strength goal with 7:26 left. It came just after a Blues power play ended.
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